Invertebrates

Invertebrates are animals that do not have a backbone. These are an important group of animals, providing benefits to man through pest control, pollination of crops or providing special chemicals for medicine. Invertebrates are also an important food source to other species, such as birds and bats.

There are a large diversity of invertebrate species in the UK that live in a whole range of habitats from marshland to trees in towns. Most of the invertebrates in the UK are insects. Insects comprise groups such as bees, wasps, ants, beetles, flies, moths and butterflies, grasshoppers, dragonflies and damselflies. Other invertebrates include arthropods, such as spiders, crayfish, water fleas, woodlice and millipedes. Additionally there are other invertebrates such as snails, worms and other molluscs.

A number of invertebrate species are protected by legislation, such as the white-clawed crayfish and freshwater pearl mussel, with others of conservation importance due to their rare status.

OpenSpace can undertake scoping surveys for invertebrates and have a number of associates with specialist invertebrate knowledge who can undertake species/group specific surveys. If you have any queries regarding invertebrates, then call us on 01228 711841 or email enquiries@openspacegb.com.